»tapestry« by 1000 hours of staring

Tapestry is an album of, for want of a better word, ‘b-sides’. That is to say, older tracks that Mike (1000 Hours of Staring) has reworked, or which he simply couldn’t see fitting elsewhere. Surprising then, that what we have here is a coherent collection of tracks taking us on a skewed journey through carnival atmospheres and crowded city streets, in the latter half of the album Mike favours a more relaxed tone, though this release could certainly be said to contain some of his most raw work to date.

The opening track, ‘We are the flood’ is a jamboree of percussion, bells, whistles and snatches of broken conversation that builds to an all out cacophony of sound. Upon reaching breaking point the harsh opening grinds to a halt, slowly the crowds disperse and plucked strings and vocals are heard for the first time emerging from the noise. This piece is a true harbinger of the light and dark contained within these ten compositions, setting the scene perfectly for what is to follow.

There are several shorter tracks on the album, pieces like ‘Wintincubator’ which sucks you into its deep, oceanic sound and leaves you always wanting more, a reference perhaps to the lullabies of Boards of Canada, but with a distinctly more organic sound. Also worthy of note is the reworking of ‘Essen’ from previous release ‘Co-operative Thread’ (SER006).

All in all a mighty release from Mike Ramsey and collaborators (Mike Bigel, David D’aranjo and a girl called Lucy) who continue to surprise and produce thought provoking, intelligent work. Thumbs up.